Cancridrean Periphery
Trapped between the very border of Imperial-held space and the disputed territories of the hostile Amphra xeno-species lies the Cancridrean Periphery, a fractious demi-sector forged in the sputtering fires of a failed Crusade. Here mankind's dominion is tenuous at best, the Astronomican's light dim and feeble, all manner of undesirables congregating within its fetid underbelly even as things eons older than humanity prowl the darkness in-between stars... History Origins Mechanicus astrophysicists have frequently theorized that the primordial expanse now known as the Cancridrean Periphery did not form naturally, but rather was created eons ago, when a dwarf galaxy collided with the Milky Way. This cataclysmic event would certainly explain the sheer abundance of stellar anomalies present within the Periphery, from unstable star-nurseries to hyperdense nebulas and fluctuating globular clusters. With these astral formations making space travel through this area all the more hazardous, the Periphery remained relatively divorced from the civilized galaxy for untold millennia. Reportedly, a colonization effort was attempted by the 228th Exploratory Fleet during the early years of the Great Crusade, but the the expedition was ultimately cut short after a failed attempt to populate the far-flung planet Amphr, homeworld of the warlike Amphra. Eventually said area was classified by the Imperium as the Cancridrae Sub-Sector, a sparsely-populated fringe bordering the more populous Mazul Star System. Said Sub-Sector was paid little mind until M.39, when the Amphra Matriarchy, having finally crossed the threshold into Imperial space, began raiding and pillaging outlying settlements. This led to a subsequent retaliation by the Imperium of Man, culminating in the disastrous [http://warhammer40kfanon.wikia.com/wiki/Amphra#Korinthos_Falls_.28998.M39.29 Siege of Korinthos], in which the Amphra utilized Exterminatus-grade orbital munitions to ionize the Agri-World's atmosphere, scouring the planet's surface in a thermal hellstorm. Cancridrae Xenocide In retaliation for Korinthos, the High Lords of Terra themselves ordered a massive Crusade to be undertaken. A massive force, consisting of no less than twenty different Imperial Guard outfits, three Adeptus Astartes strike forces, and an entire Battlefleet, were mustered to persecute a singular cause; the eradication of the Amphra. This campaign, officially labeled the Cancridrae Reclamation Crusade but more infamously known as the Cancridrae Xenocide, lasted little more than four years. A combination of internal strife, materiel shortages, sheer distance from the Imperial commonwealth eventually caused the entire endeavor to come to a bloody, screeching halt by 006.M40. Granted, the Xenocide was not an abject failure, as the Amphra were driven back and many planets were either recaptured from the Amphra Matriarchy or brought into the fold giving way to a massive reconstruction effort in 124.006.M40, known as Revanchist Initiative. Under the aegis of one Magos Titus Antiochus Rho-16, backed by the Adeptus Mechanicus, and overseen by the Adeptus Administratum, the Initiative succeeded in its goal of fortifying the Sub-Sector's infrastructure. Soon after the Periphery was declared a full Sector in its own right, absorbing part of the Mazul-Cancridrae Border into its territory, with the revitalized world of New Korinthos as its Sector Capital. Present Day The Periphery's relative isolation has spared it from much of the turmoil that has wracked the galaxy over the millennia, but said isolation has in turn fostered new a whole slew of problems. Dissident, independent factions, such as the criminal Caebolg Syndicate and the heretek Phantasmagorians erode the sector from within. The Necrons of the Indrahkt Dynasty, aboard their void-borne superfortress Brahmastra, continue to devastate Imperial settlements and then vanish without a trace, and with each passing year the Amphra grow bolder in their raids and skirmishes. Only time will tell if the Cancridrean Periphery will continue to persist against the encroaching darkness, as it has for a millennium, or be consumed by it... Sub-Sectors/Planets Ka-Terra Belt A chain of verdant planets said to evoke the beauty and majesty of Terra itself (or at least the Sector inhabitants' idealized vision of the Throneworld), the metaphorical "Soul of Terra" is one of few bright points in the Periphery's otherwise dismal stellarscape. It is most certainly a particularly integral area, as its Agri-Worlds provide most of the foodstuffs circulated throughout the Sector. *'Jaitura' - A once temperate planet whose environment was plunged into a permanent nuclear winter by orbit-to-surface bombardments conducted by Imperial forces during the Xenocide. Luckily for its future inhabitants, their now-glacialy covered oceans gave rise to entire ecosystems of exotic and edible aquatic fauna. In the present day Jaitura is best known for its amphibious "Underfisheries", in which entire generations of Jaiturans eke out a modest living in arcologies enclosed by layers of ice and snow. *'Gwynn' - A planet of rolling hills and foggy moors, once inhabited by marauding warrior-clansmen until the nascent Imperium subjugated their world during the Great Crusade. Gwynn is now home to one of the largest butchery enterprises in the Segmentum, with thousands-strong herds of Grox raised within its fields until the time comes to herd them into the planet's more urbanized areas to be slaughtered, carved, and packaged. It is a little known fact that this unassuming Agri-World is in fact the birthplace of the Caebolg Syndicate, who still maintain a strong but discrete presence upon the planet. *'Draxus Major' - Once this tropical world was known as Ch'Okk, colonized by the Amphra in a time before the Imperium, becoming one of their strongest footholds within the region. A hard-fought campaign conducted by the Iron Praetorians won the world for the Imperials, but it proved to costly to hold on to. Centuries of integration of Amphr megafauna have caused all manner of crustacean abomination to evolve within its rainforests and shallow seas, leading to Draxus Major's classification as a Death World. Now it is seldom visited, save by the occasional cadre of wealthy game hunters hoping to add a chitin-plated head to their trophy wall. *'Edensgate' - Lying close to a major warp route and just bordering the edge of the infamous Outer Dark, the ringed world of Edensgate receives a great deal of interstellar traffic. Merchants, explorers, and those of more disreputable occupation flock to its Ringside Void-Docks, while the planets itself boast a modest farming industry mostly centered around the cultivation and sale of hardy, nutritious crops. While Edensgate has always harbored a somewhat exaggerated reputation as a haven for undesirables, a recent spike in criminal activity has led to violent crackdowns by local Adeptus Arbites, and in turn fueled the growing wave of civil unrest that now grips the farmlands. Alera Spiral Drawn inexorably into the macro-gravitational abyss that is the Astral Chasm, the Alera Spiral takes its name from the distinctive spiral shape its star systems form due to the pull of the singularity at its heart. What little life that does dwell here is a distinctly hardy breed, toiling away even as their worlds grow closer to destruction with every passing generation... *'Gilgamesh' - Colonized by the followers of the late Magos Antiochus, the Forge World of Gilgamesh was once nothing more than a dismal rock orbiting dangerously close to a superdense field of protostars. Though unremarkable at first glance, generations of gravitational shifting and particle bombardment from the stellar nursery transformed Gilgamesh into a veritable philosopher's stone, with a crust made up of all manner of precious and unique minerals. Now, nearly a millenia after the Adeptus Mechanicus first set foot on its metallic lowlands, the "Golden Forge" stands as a beacon of wealth and technological supremacy. *'Singhar' - A Feral World christened after the heroic Khazamagan Rough Rider Rawalputra Singh, Singhar is a world where most life exists not on the ground, but in the sky. Its surface is a maze of lifeless basalt plains, salt flats, and mineral-rich hot springs, and thus most of its native flora and fauna has evolved into a nomadic, aerial ecosystem constantly scouring the bleak landscape for vital nutrients. It native population, the Singhari, have similarly adapted, traversing the smoggy skies of their homeworld in Drift-Caravans held aloft by lighter-than-air Kehlik Fronds and pre-industrial dirigible balloons. Though typically a peaceable people, of late the Singhari have come into conflict with the Gilgamesh Mechanicus as the scions of the Omnissiah attempt to set up gas mining operations on their homeworld. Riga Borderlands Due to their closeness to the Nerio Sector, the Riga Borderlands are considered by its inhabitants to be the only bastions of true Imperial civilization in an otherwise dangerous and lawless expanse. While certainly the Periphery's most populous Sub-Sector, it is hardly a paragon of stability, having over the years cultivated a far-flung underworld where all manner of criminal plots are cultivated. *'New Korinthos' - Before the Amphra unleashed their ionic hellfire upon this world, Korinthos was little more than a hydroponically-oriented Agri-World of oceans, temperate forests, and grassy plains. After this catastrophic event, now referred to by its inhabitants as "The Scorch", Korinthos was irrecoverably transformed. Where once stood seas are now sand-filled desert basins, bordered by dusty plateaus and periodically broken up by bleached white "forests" of long-dead calcified coral. The Revanchist Initiative saw this planet urbanized, repopulated, re-named, and re-established as the Periphery's capital, all as a symbolic testament to the indomitability of the Imperial spirit. *'Descillion' - The regal hive-spires of Descillion live in careful harmony with the planet's majestic mountain ranges and ancient woodlands, both coexisting but never overwhelming the other. This uncharacteristic respect for nature is not a voluntary attitude of the Descillion's people, but rather the aftereffect of one of many authoritarian policies enforced by one Wolfram Beyale, who in a highly controversial move declared himself the ruler of the planet during the tumultuous aftermath of the Xenocide, holding the offices of both Planetary Governor and Lord-Inquisitor at the same time. Though Beyale himself has long since gone to the God-Emperor's side, his descendants are still a force to be reckoned with both on the Paradise World and throughout the Periphery. Even now the upper echelons of Descillion are still wracked with intrigues and hidden agendas, as the late Inquisitor's ulterior motives are finally brought to light. *'Tanib Zeta' - This once prosperous Hive World was severely depopulated during the Cancridrae Xenocide, as the Amphra rounded up entire swathes of its citizenry to be utilized as livestock. After its subsequent purging by the Ordo Xenos, Tanib Zeta slowly but surely degenerated into a cesspool of rampant crime and lawlessness. To this day entire hab-districts are little more than tangled ruins of plasteel and rockcrete, where bands of hive-gangers roam the waste-choked streets with impunity and illegal transactions take place in every shadowed alleyway. Even worse are the lightless sublevels, where rumors of cannibalism and full-blown xeno-worship abound. The Outer Dark The very edge of the Milky Way, beyond the reach of the Astronomican and lit only by the feeble glow of distant stars. Here dwells what remains of the once mighty Amphra Matriarchy, its Clutches squabbling and skirmishing over what little territory they still possess, even as older, stranger beings drift through the gloom, observing and plotting. Those who venture here are few and far between, but sometimes a particularly ambitious Rogue Trader or band of Explorators will dare journey into the Outer Dark, coaxed into action by wild stories of ancient xenos treasures and relics dating back to before the Dark Age of Technology. *'Amphr' - The ancestral homeworld of the Amphra, its surface little more than a vast expanse of saltwater periodically broken up by volcanic island chains. The true civilization lies below the surface of the tempestuous waves, where the Amphra Clutches eke out their undersea strongholds in oceanic canyons and forests of seaweed. *'Morrighast' - The former Crownworld of the Necron Indrahkt Dynasty, devastated when the Eldar of the Var-Lienn Craftworld heroically crashed their dying starship into its surface to prevent the further construction of the Indrahkt's world-shattering Star Reaper battlestations. Though the Dynasty did survive aboard their last remaining Star Reaper, the Brahmastra, their former seat of power was catastrophically altered by the ensuing psychic maelstrom unleashed by the death of the Craftworld. Now the planet is engulfed by an endless sandstorm of ferrous regoliths and warp-tinged lightning, and those who dare venture their either never return or emerge without their sanity, babbling incoherent tales of wraithbone-strewn hellscapes haunted by the souls of vengeful Eldar. *'Enkidu' - Technically speaking, Enkidu is not a planet but a planetoid, a irregularly-formed cosmic afterbirth composed of pure darksilver, a mineral typically used to insulate and contain the unstable cores of Warp Drives. During the Xenocide, the Inquisition utilized Enkidu and its natural anti-aetheric qualities as a means of storing dangerous or potentially Chaos-touched contraband confiscated during [http://warhammer40kfanon.wikia.com/wiki/Cancridrae_Xenocide#War_by_Other_Means Operation Privateer]. However, they were forced to abandon this blacksite after the Crusade's abrupt completion, whereupon it was re-discovered by a splinter faction of Magos Antiochus' disciples. Years later, these errant Tech-Priests would re-emerge from the Outer Dark warped by the fell secrets they had incidentally discovered, becoming the heretek Phantasmagorians. Notable Astral Phenomena The Cancridrean Periphery plays host to all manner of strange and often deadly interstellar anomalies, from stellar-wrought gravitational vortices that can rip a starship into scrap metal, to superdense dark nebulae that can blot out visible light for miles around. In order to successfully traverse the Periphery, one must not only be skilled, but also well-equiped and well-informed of the sector's myriad dangers. Some of the more infamous hazards include: *'The Astral Chasm' - Often the subject of a vast array of horror stories told within the smoky confines of void-dockside bars and taprooms, the Astral Chasm is a supermassive Black Hole that sits at the very edge of the known galaxy. Those who have glimpsed it during space transit (from a safe distance of course) claim it is actually quite beautiful, a perfectly circular spot of darkness surrounded by a luminous corona of fiery orange and brilliant crimson. However, much like many of the stellar phenomenons present throughout the Periphery, its inherent beauty is meaningless when compared to the danger it presents to all who venture too close... *'The Crowfoot Nebula' - A conglomeration of ionized, darkly-shaded gases that sits just past the Ka-Terra Belt, named for its shape's startling resemblance to a three-toed avian claw. For generations its been regarded as a place of ill luck and ill omens, whose mere presence has been rumored to drive men mad. This has never been legitimately proven of course, but the whispered tales seem to only seem to support this claim. From the matricidal massacre that was the Crowfoot Nebula Incident, to the disappearance of over a dozen vessels into its inky depths, and of course the testimony given by the crew of the Merchant Ship Catalonia, who's Navigator fell to his knees weeping blood as the starship crossed the Nebula's threshold, screaming the same word over and over again: "Koraki, Koraki, Koraki..." *'The Riga Binary Star Cluster' - The main reason why the Periphery and the nearby Niero Sector do not seem much interstellar traffic pass between then is the existence of this most formidable of natural barriers. The Riga Binary Star Cluster is a tempestuous maze of gravitational anomalies and unstable particle storms whose constant output of electromagnetic radiation befuddles onboard sensors and renders long-range Augurs useless. The only truly safe method of transversing the Cluster is to plot a course around it, but that can potentially add weeks or even months a journey, though a more lengthy period of transit is often preferable to the alternative. Attempting to sail directly through the celestial morass can reduce an entire starship to little more than a lump of radioactive slag. Power Groups Imperial The Adeptus Terra is not well represented within the Periphery, with many of its institutions being either sorely undermanned or virtually nonexistent due the Sector's relative isolation from the rest of the Imperium. Planetary governments, along with the Arbties and PDF forces meant to guard them, tend to be highly insular and independent, chaffing at the mere thought of outsiders meddling in their affairs. Thus the role of "Sector Governor" tends to be little more than a title, a figurehead position instated to serve only as a tradition rather than an actual seat of authority. There does however exist a sort of interstellar police force in the form of Battlefleet Amarante, but the voidborn who crew this increasingly ramshackle navy are known to be highly susceptible to bribery, making the fleet little more than a glorified mercenary force. By far the Periphery's two most influential Imperial powers are the Adeptus Mechanicus of Forge Gilgamesh, and the mercantile Chartist Houses who ply the Sector's warp-lanes. The former tends to be more concerned with their own affairs than the affairs of the greater Sector, while the latter is perhaps more valued and efficient than any of the Periphery's Adeptii. The citizenry know that they owe both organizations a great debt, for without the Mechanicus' Revanchist Initiative their societies would have never survived for as long as they have, and without the Chartist Houses and their trade-fleets, the Sector's fragile economy would have ground to a halt long ago. Thus the Chartists reign as lords of the frontier, replete with power and wealth, and in some areas worship of the Machine God is almost as common as worship of the God-Emperor of Mankind. On the matter of religion, the Ecclesiarchy has yet to establish any significant footholds as sheer distance and a general distaste for outside influences has stymied the formation of a true Cancridrean Synod. Granted, local shrines, fanes, and temples of the Imperial Cult do exist throughout the Periphery, propped up by the tireless ministrations of the Missionarus Galaxia, but they are thinly spread. However in recent years the martyrdom of the so-called "Sackcloth Saint" Marvest Quinn has given rise to a new form of faith; Abjurationism. In an effort to spur a religious awakening within the Periphery, the Adeptus Ministorum officially canonized Quinn as an Imperial Saint, but now many fear this act has given legitimacy to the agendas of dangerous radicals and demagogues. The Emperor's Inquisition was once a formidable Sector power, as during the Xenocide the authority of the Cancridrean High Conclave was second only to that of the Warmaster himself. After the Crusade's conclusion the servants of the Ordos abandoned the Periphery to its fate, but there are whispered rumors that their many secret plots and projects did not go with them, and continue to live on in their absence... Xenos The Amphra Matriarchy remains an ever-present thorn in the Periphery's side, their Clutches frequently raiding the outlying worlds of the Ka-Terra Belt. In recent years the Amphra have become more bold in their attacks, their Klorri fleets venturing closer and closer to the Mazul Borderlands. Their is a sizable movement within the Sector's citizenry to muster the Periphery's limited Militarum assets for a retaliatory strike, but so far their call to arms has fallen upon deaf ears. Ultimately, no one in power wants a repeat of the Xenocide. The Indrahkt Dynasty also represents a considerable danger, but their assaults are so sporadic and seemingly random that many thought the Periphery consider the so-called "Dread Men" to be little than a spacefarer's tale turned urban legend. However, when the crescent profile of the Brahmastra appears in the sky, entire townships are decimated overnight, with the only mark of their passing being a massive, glass-fused crater. What the Necrons hope to accomplish is unknown, their aims forever inscrutable to the minds of mere men. Other For generations the woad-marked Syres of the Caebolg Syndicate were the undisputed masters of the Sector underworld. From the wealthiest Cold Trader to the lowliest hive-ganger, all who dared dip so much as a toe into the Periphery's criminal enterprises payed the Caebolgs tribute or payed the ultimate price, and thus did their power grow exponentially. But, as their influence expanded their interests began to clash with the those of the Ruby Banner Brotherhood, the Narco-Lords of the Neiro Sector. Their violent turf wars have been raging across Sector borders ever since, and many bystanders have been caught in the crossfire. Of late, the Dark Magi of the Phantasmagorians have also been quite active, cemeting their own place within Periphery's underworld through the sale of their blasphemous necrotechnologies to the highest bidder. So far they have remained firmly neutral, taking no sides in the ongoing Brotherhood-Syndicate feud, but their macabre craft has gone a long way to exacerbate the conflict. Quotes Feel free to add Trivia * Sector Map artwork graciously provided by RemosPendragon Category:Imperium Category:The Periphery